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BrokeMap

BrokeMap privacy policy

Last updated 9 October 2026.

This policy covers BrokeMap, a website for finding cheap meals in Sydney, made by Meridian Labs (ABN 88 792 692 097), an Australian sole trader. "We" means Meridian Labs. "You" means anyone using BrokeMap.

The short version

  • You can browse without an account, and we don't keep a history of where you looked or what you searched for.
  • If you sign in, we keep your email address so you can come back to your saved meals and the things you've added.
  • Anything you add shows publicly as a "Community contribution", never with your name or email.
  • We don't sell your data, show ads or use tracking cookies, and we don't use your data to train AI.

Browsing

You don't need an account to look at meals. If you tap Near me, your browser works out where you are. BrokeMap uses it to centre the map and asks our database for meals in the area around you. We don't keep your position, and it never goes into a link you share. If you type a suburb, station or campus, BrokeMap finds it in its own list on your device. Only when it isn't on that list (a street address, say) do we pass the text to Geoapify to find the place, and we don't log or keep it. The map itself comes from OpenFreeMap: like any website that serves map images, it sees your internet address and which part of the map you're looking at, and it doesn't get anything else from us.

We count visits with GoatCounter, without cookies. It gets the page you opened, any campaign tag in the link (such as which post you came from), the site that sent you, and what every website receives from your browser: its type and your internet address. It uses the address to work out your country and to avoid counting a reload twice, and doesn't store it. Nothing it keeps identifies you, and we can't see who you are.

Signing in

You need an account to save meals, or to add, confirm, correct or report a listing. You can sign in two ways:

  • Email code: we send a short code to your email address. We keep the address to identify your account.
  • Google: Google tells us your email address, name and profile picture. We use the email address to identify your account. We don't show your name or picture anywhere.

Using the same email address with either method gets you the same account. Your sign-in is kept in a cookie in your browser so you stay signed in. That's the only cookie BrokeMap itself sets. On the sign-in page, Google's sign-in button can set its own cookie, even if you don't choose Google.

What you add

When you save a meal, only you can see your saved list. When you add a new meal, confirm one is still right, suggest a correction, report a problem or upload photos, we keep what you sent with your account so we can review it, limit misuse and let you see its status. On BrokeMap it appears as a "Community contribution", with the date you saw the meal, and no name or email.

Photos are checked automatically for inappropriate content before anyone else can see them. We remove location and camera details from photos, and only a cleaned copy is ever shown. Receipts and other evidence you send stay private and are only seen by us.

Notes and photos you add to a meal, and the text of a change you report, are shown publicly on that meal's page as a "Community contribution", without your name.

Your account page shows how many other people saved or recently confirmed the meals you added. These are totals only. We never show who.

If you choose to, you can give BrokeMap a short display name on your account page. We may use it to thank you when we feature a meal you added in BrokeMap's own social media posts. It's off unless you turn it on, it's never shown in the app, and you can remove it from your account page at any time. It has to be a plain name, with no links or email addresses.

If you send feedback from your account page, only the BrokeMap team reads it, and we don't see who sent it when we read it. Please don't include personal details you don't want us to keep.

Mobile app waitlist

If you join the waitlist for the mobile app, we keep your email address to send you one message when the app is released. That list is separate from accounts.

Who helps us run BrokeMap

We use a few services to run BrokeMap. They process data for us and only for this purpose:

  • Supabase stores accounts, listings and photos, and runs sign-in. Our database is hosted in Sydney.
  • Netlify hosts the website. Some of its server code runs in the United States.
  • OpenFreeMap provides the map images. If it's unavailable, Geoapify provides them instead.
  • Geoapify finds places you type that aren't on BrokeMap's own list.
  • Sightengine checks uploaded photos for inappropriate content. It deletes photos after checking them.
  • Resend sends sign-in code emails.
  • GoatCounter counts visits to the website, without cookies.
  • Google, if you choose to sign in with Google.

Some of these services are based outside Australia, so your data may be processed overseas.

How long we keep things

  • Your account, saved meals and contributions: until you delete your account or ask us to.
  • Photos and evidence for a new meal that's turned down, or a draft you never send: deleted after 7 days.
  • Private originals of accepted photos and evidence: deleted after 90 days. The cleaned public photo stays with the listing.
  • Help requests: deleted 30 days after they're closed.
  • Feedback: kept until we've dealt with it, then deleted 30 days after we mark it done.
  • Records of our review decisions: personal details removed after 90 days.

Deleting your account

You can ask us to delete your account from your account page. We then stop you making changes straight away, delete your account, saved meals, contributions and photos, your display name for posts and any feedback you sent, and remove your name from any reports you made. Meal details that other people have also confirmed stay on BrokeMap without any link to you. We aim to finish within 7 days and tell you when it's done. Copies in our providers' backups can take longer to expire.

Your rights

You can ask what personal information we hold about you, ask us to correct it, or ask us to delete it, by writing to the address below or using the help form on your account page. We handle personal information under the Australian Privacy Principles in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). If you're unhappy with how we've handled a request, you can complain to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner at oaic.gov.au.

Changes

If we start collecting something new or using your data in a new way, we'll update this page and the date at the top before that change goes live.

Contact

Meridian Labs, PO Box 64, Auburn NSW 1835, Australia. admin@meridianlabssoftware.com